HUNDREDS of poetic students have poured their efforts into a competition to commemorate the First World War.

Run by the Friends of Cotswold Volunteers, the poetry competition invited adults and students from Kingshill School write a poem about the war.

Kingshill students sent in around 400 entries with encouragement from Head of English, Andrew Coates, and his department.

The entries were judged by Michael Scott a poet, writer and tutor who is a co-founder of the Swindon Festival of Poetry and is currently Chair of BlueGate poets in Swindon.

Both categories were hotly contested, resulting in a tough time for judges who created two lists of winners with first, second and third places for each.

The winners of the first student category were Adam Lewry and Max Barnfield with a jointly written poem entitled ‘How To Die’.

Winner of the second student category was Connor Derrick’s ‘World War One’.

Judges commented on the visual form of Adam and Max's poem, scrawled across the page and emotionally charged throughout, and praised Derrick’s use of fear as a theme.

Second and third place in the two categories were taken by Matt Stephenson and Logan Young and by Tom Hindson and Rosie Reynolds respectively.

The winning poems will be read at a commemorative concert in the Parish Church on Friday August 8.

Adults tickets will be £7.50, child tickets will be £2.50, available from the visitor information centre or the Parish centre.